Employers in the UK have a legal duty to provide adequate training to all employees on a ongoing basis. There are many laws that govern an employer’s duty of care which is to ensure that workers are kept safe from harm and injury while at work. If you suffered an injury in an accident at work and believe the incident occurred because your employer failed to provide sufficient training, you could be entitled to file an accident at work claim and receive a level of compensation to suit your injuries and out-of-pocket expenses.

The Laws Governing Employers in the Workplace

As previously mentioned, there are many laws that protect employees and employers which are detailed below:

• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
• Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

There are many Acts of Parliament that cover working with hazardous chemicals and specialist equipment all of which your employer must abide by and if they fail to do so or they ignore any Health and Safety regulations which results in you injuring yourself or developing a work-related health issue, they could be held liable and would have to pay compensation for the pain and suffering you had to endure.

However, many accident at work claims filed by employees are often hotly disputed by employers and their insurers who believe they provided adequate training to their staff. If your employer can prove this to be true, it would mitigate your inadequate training accident at work claim. As such, it is best to seek legal advice from a solicitor who specialises in this type of claim. They would be able to assess your case to establish whether your employer was in breach of their duty to provide adequate training, whether there are grounds for partial blame or whether you did not receive any training to carry out a job you were tasked to do by an employer.

What are the Most Common Workplace Injuries Due to Inadequate Training?

Whether you work in an office environment, warehouse, shop floor or other area of employment, your employer has a duty to provide adequate training with an end goal being to reduce the risk of you being injured in an accident at work. With this said, the most commonly reported workplace injuries that are due to inadequate training are listed below:

• A fall from a ladder, scaffolding or other height due to a lack of training on how to use the equipment correctly
• Lifting injuries that result in back problems and other injuries due to a lack of training on how to lift heavier items
• Electric shock injuries due to inadequate training on how to use equipment
• Chemical burns and other hazardous substance injuries sustained due to a lack of training on how to handle dangerous liquids
• Health issues and medical conditions due to a lack of training or because incorrect safety equipment was provided, an example being when working with asbestos
• Injuries sustained when using equipment, machinery and tools which can range from minor cuts to catastrophic fatal injuries

Employers are legally bound to carry out risk assessments in a working environment on a regular basis and to set in place measures to reduce the risk of injury and harm to employees and this includes providing ongoing training to all their staff whether permanent employees, temporary or agency staff and other workers.

What Occupations Put Workers Most at Risk When Not Given Sufficient Training?

As previously touched upon, no matter what job you do, an employer must provide sufficient training. However, there are some working environments that put you more at risk of injury if you are not given adequate training than others which are listed below:

• Factory and warehouse workers
• Fast food workers
• Kitchen staff, chefs and porters
• Electricians
• Builders
• Dock workers
• People who work in shipping

The above are just some of the working environments that put you more at risk of being injured in an accident at work due to a lack or insufficient training but there are others too. To reduce the risk of injury in the workplace, an employer must do the following:

• Assess your experience and ability to carry out a specific job
• Provide regular and ongoing training
• Provide extra training for any new job you are tasked to do whether working equipment or other types of specialist machinery
• Ensure that your work colleagues are sufficiently experience and trained to carry out the jobs they are tasked to do
• Ensure that younger, less experience employees are protected
• Ensure that employees with disabilities are kept safe
• Ensure that any pregnant employees are kept safe from harm in the workplace

How Do I Prove an Employer Did Not Provide Me With Adequate Training?

For an accident at work claim to be successful, you would need to prove that an employer was negligent in providing sufficient training to carry out a job you were tasked to do. Even if there was just an element of negligence on the part of your employer, you may still be entitled to file for compensation. You would need to show that your employer failed to keep you safe from harm and injury because you were not sufficiently trained to use equipment and machinery that resulted in an accident at work.

Employers should also  have in place specific procedures which must be followed when an employee is involved in a workplace accident and you should have received first-aid from personnel in the workplace at the time of the incident. With this said, employers are bound to follow all health and safety executive regulations and if they fail in any of the following, they could be held liable for your injuries:

• A failure to identify the health and safety regulations for a specific working environment
• A failure to make sure that all employees were adequately trained and experienced enough to carry out jobs they are tasked to do
• A failure to take into consideration an employee’s suitability to carry out a job
• A failure to provide the level of training that is required and which employees easily and fully understand
• A failure to make sure that employees are qualified to carry out specific jobs and roles
• A failure to ensure that supervisors are experienced enough to carry out their jobs
• A failure to provide adequate training which takes into account difference and changing working environments

It is worth noting that in some cases proving employer negligence can be challenging. However, a solicitor who specialises in inadequate training claims, would establish whether other similar incidents occurred in your workplace by looking through your employer’s accident report book. If it is found that there is a pattern of similar accidents and/or workplace injuries, this could form the basis of your inadequate training in the workplace claim. Other important factors that would be taken into consideration are listed below:

• Your employer’s health and safety history
• Specific training programmes that are set in place
• The company’s employee injury history
• Witness statements of workplace accidents

All of the above would help a solicitor when it comes to establishing whether you have a strong inadequate training compensation claim.

What Should I Do Following an Inadequate Training Injury at Work?

Your employer should have a procedure in place that employees must follow if there is an accident at work. However, if you are injured at work, the first thing you should do is seek medical attention whether you think your injuries are minor or more severe. Other steps that must be taken even if you are not thinking about filing an inadequate training claim against a negligent employer are as follows:

• Make sure the incident is reported to an employer or the person in charge
• Ensure the incident is recorded in the company’s accident report book (you should have access to this report to make sure the details of your accident are correct)
• If there is no accident report book, write all the details of the incident down in a letter and send this to the employer, keeping a copy for your own records
• Take photos of where the accident occurred
• If possible, request CCTV footage of the incident
• Take photos of the injuries you sustained before any treatment is given
• Get witness statements
• Get witness contact details
• Get an official medical report of your injuries from the hospital or doctor who initially treated you

All of the above are essential when it comes to proving liability in an inadequate training accident at work claim. The information would be factored into determining the strength of your case against a negligent employer and the amount of compensation you may be awarded in a successful claim.

What Can be Included in an Inadequate Accident at Work Claim?

There are specific things that would be factored into an inadequate accident at work claim which are used to calculate the amount of compensation you may receive. These are listed below:

• General damages – this covers the amount of pain and suffering you endured as a result of being injured in the workplace. It also covers the mental anguish you may have experienced and whether your injuries were life-changing
• Special damages – are awarded for any loss of earnings you may incur as well as any future loss of earnings should you not be able to work again. It also includes any alterations that may be required in your home and whether you would need care around the home. It also covers all your medical and travel expenses and whether you would need to go into a care home because your injuries are so severe

What is the Time Limit to an Inadequate Training Accident Claim?

As with other accident at work claims, inadequate training claims have a strict 3 year time limit attached to them. This statutory time limit must be respected because failing to do so would negate the chance of receiving the compensation you rightly deserve even if you can prove an employer was in breach of not providing sufficient training for you to do a job.

It is far better to start a claim as early as possible after an accident at work that leaves you injured takes place. Not only are all the details of the incident fresh in your mind and in that of any witnesses, but it allows time to gather as much evidence as possible to strengthen and prove your claim against a negligent employer.

Would My Accident at Work Claim be Taken on By a Solicitor on a No Win No Fee Basis?

Contacting a solicitor who specialises in work-related claims would speed up the legal process considerably. The reason being that a solicitor would know exactly what is needed to prove an inadequate training at work claim and to show that an employer was in breach of the duty to provide you with sufficient training to carry out a job you were tasked to do. A solicitor would quickly assess whether you have strong claim and they would do so by providing an initial, free, no obligation consultation. Following this, if a solicitor believes that your employer was negligent, they could offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis which means you would not have to pay a retainer or upfront fee for work to begin on your claim.

This would entail signing a legal contract with the solicitor which is known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). The agreement sets out the “success fee” you would only have to pay on a successful inadequate training at work claim which is an agreed percentage of the amount of compensation you receive. The amount is deducted directly from the money you are awarded. Should your claim not be successful, because the solicitor entered into a CFA with you, there would be nothing to pay for the legal services they provided.

If as an agency worker you suffered an injury in an accident at work while in the temporary employment of a company or business, you could be entitled to file for compensation against an employer providing you can prove the incident occurred through no fault of your own and it happened in the last 3 years.

What is the Definition of an Agency Worker?

Agency workers are sometimes referred to as temporary staff because they are employed by businesses through an agency on a temporary basis. As an agency worker would you have signed a contract with an agency that then places you with an employer. However, when you are sent to work on a temporary basis for a business or company, the employer would provide instructions on the work that needs to be carried out on a temporary basis. In short, to qualify as an agency worker, the following criteria would need to be met:

• You have a contract with an agency
• The agency sends you to work for an employer on a temporary basis
• The work you do is controlled by an employer the agency has sent you to work for
• You are not a self-employed person

Workers Who Do No Qualify as Agency Workers

You would not qualify as an agency worker if the following applies to you:

• You are sent to a job on a temporary basis by an agency, but you are registered as self-employed
• Your terms of work are under a Managed Service Contract which is when an agency provides a specific form of service for a client – examples being cleaning and catering contracts
• You are employed as a temporary worker directly by a business or company which is referred to as “in-house temporary staffing bank”
• You found employment yourself or via a recruitment agency
• You are working for a company or business on secondment or loan from another employer

What is a Pay Between Assignment Contract?

As an agency worker, the agency you work for may request that you sign an agreement known as a “pay between assignment contract”. Having entered into this type of contract, you would be an employee of an agency which in short, means that your rights differ from other agency workers who have not signed a “pay between assignment contract”.

By entering into this type of contract with an agency, you would be paid by the agency should you have to wait between temporary jobs. It would also mean that you would not be considered as being an employee of the company you are temporarily working for should you be involved in an accident at work that leaves you suffering from some kind of injury or work-related health issue. In this instance, the liability would fall to the agency that you are under contract to.

What Employment Rights Apply to Agency Workers?

As an agency worker, you have certain employment rights even when you have entered into a “pay between assignment contract” with an agency. These are detailed below:

• That you are receive the minimum wage
• That no unlawful deductions are taken from your salary
• That you are not discriminated against for a disability, your age, gender reassignment, civil partnership, marriage, pregnancy, maternity, religion, belief, race, sexual orientation, sex
• That you are not discriminated against because you only work for an employer on a part-time basis
• That there is a limit on the number of hours worked during the course of a week (some exceptions may apply)
• That you are entitled to take paid holidays
• That you are accompanied when attending a disciplinary or grievance hearing
• That you are not fired or picked on for whistleblowing
• That you receive unpaid parental leave on the condition you meet the necessary criteria
• That you have the right to request flexible working hours on your return to work from parental leave providing the necessary criteria are met
• That you receive statutory sick pay (SSP), statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay, statutory paternity pay providing the qualifying conditions are met
• That the work environment is safe
• That you can file specific claims via an employment tribunal

What Employment Rights Do Not Apply to Agency Workers?

As an agency worker, you would not have the right to the following:

• File a claim for unfair dismissal having been fired without good cause or without notice
• To claim statutory redundancy pay
• To claim maternity, paternity, parental and adoption leave
• To have a written statement of any main terms and conditions of your employment

How Do I Establish Who is Responsible for an Accident at Work?

You would need to establish who was responsible for an accident in the workplace bearing in mind that in some instances, the liability for an incident is clear cut whereas in others, it is not. With this said,  the regulations and laws pertaining to agency worker accident claims can be complicated and as such, the responsibility is not that evident.

As such, it is best to seek legal advice so an accident at work solicitor can assess the circumstances surrounding the incident that left you injured before offering essential advice on how best to proceed in filing an agency worker accident claim against a negligent employer.

What is the Procedure Following an Accident at Work if as an Agency Worker, I Was Responsible?

If as an agency worker, you believe you were responsible or partly responsible for an accident at work that left you injured, you should still follow a specific procedure which is detailed below:

• Seek medical attention as soon as possible
• Report the incident to the person in charge
• Make sure a record of the accident is entered into the Accident Report Book at the workplace you are employed by on a temporary basis
• If there is no accident report book, write down all the details of the accident and send a copy to the person who is employing you making sure you retain a copy of the report for your own records
• Should you not be able to report the incident yourself because your injuries prevent you from doing so, request that somebody else does this on your behalf
• Get a medical report of your injuries

As an agency worker, you have every right to make a report to the Health and Safety Executive, should you believe that the conditions in a workplace are not safe to work in. If you are a member of a trade union, you can also file a report to your representative should you think that a working environment is unsafe.

What Can be Included in an Agency Worker Accident at Work Claim?

Should you have been involved in an accident at work while working as an agency worker for an employer and sustained an injury, you have every right to file for compensation providing they are responsible for instructing you on what your job entails and they provide all the tools necessary to carry out a job. If an employer is liable for the injuries you sustained in the workplace, there are specific things that you can include in your claim which are listed below:

• General damages
• Special damages

General damages – this covers the following:

• The pain and suffering you had to endure
• Physical injury that could prevent you from working
• Any mental anguish you endured as a direct result of an accident at work
• Any loss of companionship you may have to cope with
• The loss of a unique career
• Hardship in finding a new career

Special damages – this covers the following:

• The medical expenses you incurred as a direct result of your injuries
• Your travel expenses to and from hospital or other medical facilities for necessary treatments. This includes how you get to the place you receive your treatments whether it is by train, taxi, bus or car
• Loss of earnings
• Loss of any future income because your injuries prevent you from working
• Care costs should you require help around the house on a daily basis or you have to go into a care home

What is the Time Limit for Reporting an Accident at Work?

As with all personal injury claims, there is a strict time limit associated with agency worker accident claims. The time limit starts from the date of an accident or when you became aware of your injuries, health issue or other work-related medical condition which is typically when it is diagnosed by a medical professional.

Failing to file a claim within this timeline would fall foul of the statutory time limit which in short, means you would not be able to claim the compensation you may be entitled to even if an employer failed to keep you safe in a workplace you were sent to by an agency.

Should You File a Claim Following an Accident at Work?

If, as an agency worker you were involved in a workplace accident that left you with an injury, whether minor or more severe, it could mean that you are unable to work for a period of time or it could mean you cannot work for much longer. As such, you could be put under tremendous financial pressure, leaving you unable to pay your bills. It could also mean that you incur a lot of out-of-pocket expenses through not fault of your own and as a direct result of your injuries. As such, you would have right to claim back by filing an accident at work claim against a negligent employer.

You would need to prove you were an “employee” of the company or business you were working for on a temporary basis. As such, seeking legal advice is essential so that you are on the right track from the outset of filing an agency worker accident claim. By law, all UK employers must have in place liability insurance which covers accidents that leave employees injured, suffering from a medical disorder or work-related health issue.

The amount of compensation you may be awarded in a successful agency worker accident  claim would be paid by the company’s/employer’s insurers whether they decide to settle out of court or if they choose to have your claim go before a judge in court.

Working with a No Win No Fee Solicitor as an Agency Worker

You may be put off filing an agency worker accident claim against a negligent employer because of the cost of seeking legal representation. However, most solicitors offer a no obligation, initial consultation which is typically free of charge. This allows a solicitor the chance to assess a claim and to establish who could be held liable for any injuries you sustained as an agency worker when working temporarily for an employer.

Once your case has been assessed, a solicitor would offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis which in short, means that you would not have the worry of finding the money for legal representation when you need it the most. You would sign a contract known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which outlines the percentage you agreed to pay the solicitor which is commonly referred to as a “success fee” because you would only pay this when you are awarded the compensation you were seeking on a successful agency worker accident claim.

A Conditional Fee Agreement also sets out the Terms and Conditions of the contract and as such, having entered into a CFA with you, a solicitor takes on all the responsibility should your claim not be successful and as such, there would be nothing to pay for the legal services they provided in an agency worker accident claim.